The Greek word in Matthew 25 that is translated as “lamps” in the vast majority of English translation is translated by a number of modern German translations (Neue evangelistische Übersetzung 2010, BasisBibel 2021, Neue Genfer Übersetzung 2009) as “torch” (Fackel).

Michael Peppard (in: Journal of Biblical Literature 2024, p 663ff. ) explains: “As signified by some German translations, many biblical scholars in Germany have interpreted λαμπάδες as torches for over one hundred years. Their arguments date back at least to Ludwig Schneller, the German Protestant pastor who lived in Palestine during the mid-1800s, founded the Schneller Orphanage in Jerusalem, and published a kind of exegetical memoir in 1896. The idea was later given scholarly gravitas by the influential Joachim Jeremias (…).

“The term λαμπάς in the parable is almost always mistranslated in English as ‘lamp,’ a word whose intended referent, in our era, is an ancient terra-cotta oil lamp. But the usual ancient Greek word for a terra-cotta oil lamp was λύχνος, while λαμπάς almost always means torch or some other bright blazing fire. The smaller λύχνος for indoor, table-top illumination is the one that Jesus, in a famous metaphor, advises listeners not to ‘hide under a bushel’ but to ‘put on a lampstand’ (Matt 5:14–16).

“Abstracted from any literary context, as in classical Greek dictionaries, λαμπάς signifies a pole or stick either wrapped with oil-soaked material or topped by a vessel with oil-soaked material inside. (…) A vessel torch had some kind of basin for holding oil and some durable material as a wick, as do many modern torches used at outdoor events. Thus, a torch would be ‘prepared,’ as in our parable (ἐκόσμησαν; Matt 25:7), by filling the basin with oil and arranging whatever material was functioning as the wick.”

See also paragraph 5 in Translation commentary on Matthew 25:1.